Reduce pressure on public investment, increase the effectiveness of swimming education.

Báo Lai Châu•07/08/2023

Currently, the number of swimming pools in the province has increased significantly compared to 5-6 years ago. Notably, 100% of these pools were built through socialized funding. This contributes to reducing the pressure on public investment, increasing the effectiveness of swimming education, and positively impacting the swimming training movement and drowning prevention.

Recently, especially on weekends, Limo 2 Swimming Pool (San Thang commune, Lai Chau city) has been bustling with adults and children seeking relief from the sweltering summer heat. The place is like a vibrant picture, with children happily playing in the clear, cool water; some swimming, others attentively learning to swim... Notably, Limo 2 has also been chosen as the venue for many swimming competitions this summer.
Through a conversation with Mr. Nguyen Duc Kien - manager of Limo 2 Swimming Pool, we learned that: Limo 2 Swimming Pool was built in 2022, based on the renovation of a small family pond, and officially opened in April 2023. The pool is designed to standard swimming pool dimensions, consisting of two pools (one for adults, one for children). The adult pool is 25m long and 10m wide (divided into 4 lanes, each lane 2.5m wide), with a gradually sloping design, 1.3m deep at the beginning and 1.65m deep at the end. The children's pool consists of two smaller pools: one wading pool with an area of 35m2, approximately 0.35 - 0.5m deep, and one pool outside the wading pool with a water depth of 0.7 - 1.2m.
Mr. Kien shared: "My younger brother decided to invest in building a swimming pool after visiting several places and seeing how useful swimming pools are, not only for family members but also socially, contributing to creating a playground for children, helping them learn to swim and preventing drowning. Unclean pool water poses a high risk of disease to swimmers. Therefore, the water for Limo 2 swimming pool is sourced from Lai Chau Clean Water Joint Stock Company. At the same time, our family focuses on designing a standard sedimentation and filtration system, treating the water daily and cleaning the pool thoroughly to ensure customer peace of mind when using the service. In addition, auxiliary facilities such as restrooms, showers, and lockers are also invested in, modern, and safe. Furthermore, the surrounding area is always kept clean, creating a refreshing and peaceful atmosphere for visitors."

Limo 2 swimming pool is built to standard pool dimensions and is a popular choice for people to come and have fun, swim, and learn to swim during the summer.

In fact, in recent years, the movement for all citizens to practice swimming has spread widely, receiving more attention from all levels, sectors, localities, and people throughout the province than before. Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien from Tan Phong ward said: "Fortunately, with businesses and households investing in swimming pools, people have a place to swim and children have the opportunity to learn to swim. To popularize swimming for my children, since they started primary school, whenever a swimming class opened, my family enrolled both of them. Now, my children can swim proficiently and enjoy going swimming every day."
Discussing this issue, Mr. Tran Quang Khang, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated: Swimming is one of the important survival skills. Practicing swimming contributes to improving health, stature, physical fitness, and preventing diseases. People of all ages and genders can participate in swimming training. In recent times, the province has focused on promoting the role and responsibility of all levels, sectors, families, schools, and society as a whole in developing the swimming instruction and learning movement and preventing drowning. However, due to the province's difficult conditions, no schools in the area have yet received investment for the construction of swimming pools. Therefore, increasing the socialization of swimming pool construction is one of the necessary immediate solutions to reduce the pressure on public investment, increase the effectiveness of swimming popularization, contribute to the development of safe swimming instruction and training, and reduce drowning incidents in the area.
According to a review by the Sports Management Department (Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism), the province currently has 25 swimming pools of various types. Lai Chau City has the most with 10 pools, followed by Tan Uyen district with 7, Tam Duong district with 3, and Than Uyen district with 2; three districts (Nam Nhun, Phong Tho, and Muong Te) each have 1 swimming pool, while Sin Ho district has none. Notably, 100% of the swimming pools are invested in by businesses and households.
It is known that depending on the type of swimming pool, geographical location, accessibility, and the type of equipment and decorations used, the construction cost will vary. Accordingly, underground swimming pools will have the lowest cost compared to rooftop or above-ground pools. The larger the size, the higher the construction cost. Therefore, promoting social mobilization and encouraging organizations and individuals to provide financial and resource support for swimming pool construction in localities has significantly contributed to saving the State's investment costs and working together with the government to create favorable conditions for people to access safe swimming.
The swimming movement in the province is now much stronger than before. Each year, hundreds more people acquire swimming skills. This result is due not only to the involvement of relevant authorities and the positive response from the people, but also to the significant contributions of businesses and households in investing in the construction of swimming pools. However, the swimming movement is currently concentrated mainly in the centers of districts and cities, and due to the province's cold winters and heavy rainfall, most swimming pools are only operational for a few months of the year. Therefore, to further encourage businesses and households to invest in more swimming pools, the province needs to have appropriate support mechanisms.

Drowning is a major cause of death for children and adolescents. On average, over 2,000 young people die from drowning nationwide each year. In our province, from 2021 to 2022, 45 children died from drowning. The main causes are not knowing how to swim, a lack of knowledge and skills in drowning prevention, and a lack of adult supervision and management. Therefore, promoting swimming is a crucial solution to equip children with basic skills to prevent and combat drowning.

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